


Dear Agent Coulson

by Skyepilot



Category: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV)
Genre: Alternative Perspective, F/M, First Kiss, Friends to Lovers, Friendship/Love, Holidays, Humor, Letters, Long-Distance Relationship, Male-Female Friendship, Past Relationship(s), The Framework Universe (Marvel), Time Travel, Writing
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-26
Updated: 2017-12-26
Packaged: 2019-02-21 23:02:39
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,097
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13153866
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Skyepilot/pseuds/Skyepilot
Summary: Set in post S5. Ficlet where Daisy goes back to the past to meet Phil's mother. Written for #cousywinter for the prompt: surprise gift





	Dear Agent Coulson

  
December 15, 1987

ADDRESS REDACTED  
LEVEL 1 CLEARANCE

Dear Agent Coulson,

Your mother asked me to write on her behalf, due to her condition. She is, as you know, safely in our care, and for that reason, I can't provide too much information, only to say that she's thinking of you, and knows that you're working hard to keep the world safe. She's sent you something she's been keeping safe, which I have placed in the lockbox noted in the attached location. She said that it's a reminder that the world has not changed so much, and that it still needs heroes. There is also the matter of the secret ingredient in her grilled cheese sandwiches, but I believe that was a ploy to get me to return, along with mentioning that you are single.

Your fellow agent,  
D

+++

December 22, 1987

ADDRESS REDACTED  
LEVEL 1 CLEARANCE

Dear Mom,

I tried to call, but couldn't get through. I can't believe you kept the playing cards. I'm already being mercilessly teased by some of the agents, but you were right. It IS a good reminder. My S.O. agreed and also complimented the excellent condition they were in, which reminds me so much of Dad, how he so carefully documented the past. He's not here, but you are, and I'm sorry it took me so long to reply, I've been travelling. Just know I'm keeping them somewhere safe, close to my heart. Did you like the present?

P.S. - Please don't give away the secret ingredient unless you think they're marriage material, okay?

With love,  
Phillip

  
+++

December 3, 1988

ADDRESS REDACTED  
LEVEL 2 CLEARANCE

Dear Agent Coulson,

Your mother is grateful for the early present, even though it was received a few days late. We had to relocate the patients to another facility. Please know that all is well and she is comfortable and safe. She would like to know when you can visit so she can expect to receive the other sock? At least she is glad she taught you something about the tradition (her words, verbatim). She thinks you look very nice in the photo and was offended that I called you a company man. But we disagreed that the suit was better than your Modern Lovers t-shirt. She seems to think you still wear that?

Your fellow agent,  
D

  
+++

December 8, 1988

ADDRESS REDACTED  
LEVEL 2 CLEARANCE

Mom,

My favorite t-shirt was lost on a mission in Peru, along with my heart. I'll be along soon to deliver the other sock. I hope that the move wasn't too upsetting, but there are reasons for doing stuff like this, which I will explain when I see you next. Since I gather that they are reading you my letters, I hope they might relish the fact that they'll never learn the secret ingredient?

Love,  
Phillip

+++

December 25, 1989

ADDRESS REDACTED  
LEVEL 2 CLEARANCE

Dear Phillip,

I send my love to you wherever you are in the world right now. Time is a gift. And it stretches into eternity. I have always had a vision of who you would become, but I think you might even be something greater than I imagined? Which is a delight, and you are always my delight. Remember that compassion is our greatest gift, and the most divine weapon we have. Keep it close to your heart.

Forever,  
Julie

  
+++

  
December 5, 2018

"What's this?"

"It's a present, Coulson."

"Why now?" he asks her, insistent, but he's curious why Daisy sought him out today of all days.

He had told her about the Framework, and how it messed with his head, and it felt selfish, because it had messed with all of them, not just him.

Inside the Framework, he had lived an entire life that wasn't like his own. His parents were there for him, he had never become a SHIELD agent. He had watched them grow old and die together.

But he had never tried to fight the way he'd wanted to. The way they would have wanted him to.

He stares at the small package she's put in his lap and glances up at her, for just a moment, then turns it over and starts to peel the tape apart carefully with his right hand.

As he draws the cheap blue and white paper apart he sees a single sock inside it.

"Daisy?"

It's all he can do to manage the word, and he looks up at her, eyes wide.

His guilt that it had given him hope, in a strange way. That he got to hold onto them there, instead of joining SHIELD. An exemplary agent, but not the son he wanted to be.

Now, in the present, whatever that means, it's wrestling with the idea that he wouldn't be the person he is if they had never died.

"The first rule of time travel?" she asks him.

"It's that you don't-"

"I broke it," she interrupts, and nods, solemnly. "A few times."

He lifts the sock and feels the material in his hands, and then looks up at her so she can explain.

"I faked SHIELD credentials," she starts. "She never knew who I was, exactly."

"What do you mean?" he asks, pushing aside the paper and standing up from the couch in the empty ready room.

""I told her about you," she says, letting out a breath. "I told her I was from the future. She was really good at keeping secrets, Coulson."

"I know," he tells her, and he's, trying to remember. He thinks about the letters they shared all those years ago, and- "What did you tell her?"

"Everything," she tells him, her eyes huge and liquid. "I wanted her to know who you would become."

He starts to cry and he's not trying to upset her, but she comes closer to him, and her face looks like she made some kind of mistake.

"No. NO. Thank you," he tells her, when she puts a comforting hand on his shoulder. "Daisy-"

Then he hugs her against him, and worries if it's too tight, and wants to let go but he can't, and he starts to kiss her. The top of her head, the side of her face, her nose, her-

He stops as she stares back at him, eyes searching all over his face.

"She told me the secret ingredient," she confesses, lifting her hand to brush away a tear with her thumb, and smiling when he starts to smile.

Then they start to laugh and it becomes a kiss.

And then more than a kiss.


End file.
